Superficial bruising and, to a lesser extent, bleeding are not uncommon consequences—reported on average about one-third of the time—of many aesthetic procedures, including dermal fillers, botulinum toxins and laser resurfacing.
More significant bruising occurs with surgical procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentations/lifts, face lifts and tummy tucks.
The management of secondary immediate reactions due to subcutaneous or intradermal injection of fillers with vascular damages or vascular breaking wall inducing ecchymosis, bruising, leakage of blood components having immediate action on inflammation setting up, redness and oedema, are of particular interest.
Although redness, erythema, bruising and bleeding are not generally considered as a big problem, most physicians prepare their patients for this possibility by alerting them to it prior to the procedure. Particularly, physicians often caution against using aspirin or other anticoagulant drugs before and after the procedure, extensively use ice packs immediately after the procedure and quite commonly recommend Arnica, an herb used to promote healing. This kind of drawbacks may discourage some patients and particularly towards aesthetic procedures. In particular with regards to the consequences of bruising/bleeding, physicians report that one of the most significant concerns for patients is downtime as when bruising occurs, patients prefer to stay home rather than return to work and social activities
Therefore, there is a need for alleviating bruising/bleeding that occur during aesthetic or surgical procedures, especially when fillers are injected.
The present invention is based on the demonstration by the Applicant that the injection of an adrenergic receptor agonist together with the filler reduces the occurrence of skin reactions due to injection.